Workers to get paid sick leave later this year under new law signed by governor

Political columnist Charlie Stile and Statehouse reporter Dustin Racioppi discuss what Murphy has done in his first 100 days, and what they expect him to do in the next 100.

Executive Director of New Jersey Working Families Analilia Mejia, second from right, applauds Governor Phil Murphy during a roundtable discussion on minimum wage and paid sick leave in Newark, N.J. on Wednesday, January 17, 2018.(Photo11: Danielle Parhizkaran/Northjersey.com)

New Jersey became the 10th state Wednesday to require employers to provide paid sick leave for workers, putting into law a wage policy that has passed locally in about a dozen places around the state.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill, A-1827, during a ceremony at Trenton's War Memorial, a week after signing equal pay legislation. The bill-signing continues a streak of progressive achievements for Murphy, but he is seeking more on the economic front, including a $15 hourly minimum wage.

"This is not just about doing what's right for workers and their families," he said of paid sick leave. "This is about doing the right thing for our economy and protecting more New Jerseyans' place in that economy."

Bill sponsors said an estimated 1.1 million New Jersey workers are unable to earn sick leave.

The law, which takes effect in six months, requires employers to give workers one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, with an annual cap of 40 hours. Workers may take off to care for their own mental or physical illness or injury, to care for family members, to address domestic or sexual violence or when their child's school or child care is closed due to an epidemic or public health emergency.

Most workers in New Jersey will be eligible for paid sick leave, according to New Jersey Working Families, a political organization that helped drive the bill's passage. Employers may not retaliate against workers who use their earned time off.

Murphy and bill sponsors said the measure will help increase the value of doing business in New Jersey while also expressing the state's value of its workers. Those affected by the bill "will be able to lead a life that contributes to the life of New Jersey," said sponsor Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck.

The New Jersey Business Association, which had opposed the mandate, praised lawmakers for working with it the past several years to address a range of concerns it had over the potential effects on businesses. After Murphy signed it, the association said the changes "will mitigate impacts on well-intended employers."

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While lawmakers went back and forth over the years on the details, municipalities took it upon themselves to pass similar local paid sick leave laws. Newark and Jersey City are the two major cities to have passed such measures. The others include: Bloomfield, East Orange, Elizabeth, Irvington, New Brunswick, Montclair, Morristown, Passaic, Paterson, Plainfield, New Brunswick and Trenton.